New Years resolutions
I'm not really very good at keeping New Years resolutions. I like to pretend that I am by setting goals and devising a plan, but usually something happens along the way and I either don't start working towards the goal at all or I start working towards it and I don't finish the project.
It is a cold, frigid, blustery, single digit day here in Western PA so I decided to work on one of my goals for the New Year. My first goal for 2010 is to cook a meal every single night. During the month of December, Erik and I get very lax about eating out. With shopping, preparation for our open house, Christmas Eve, and traveling to my hometown, preparing meals falls to the wayside. The kids live on PB&J, mac n cheese, spaghetti and ravioli. Erik and I eat whatever is left over in the fridge. In fact, we are still eating some left overs from our parties and gatherings.
We've all gotten tired of eating this way, so it is time to get on a real meal plan.
My mother in law got me a beautiful cast iron enameled dutch oven, so I broke it out today to make chili. After getting all the ingredients into the dutch oven, I sat down to devise a meal plan for the coming weeks. My goal was to plan meals up to Valentine's day. I don't really plan breakfast or lunch because those things are relatively easy to throw together. My kids usually eat oatmeal, cereal, eggs, pancakes, etc. Breakfast is ALWAYS the easiest meal at our house. Lunch is sometimes trickier with juggling Walker's appetite and his Kindergarten schedule. Walker is (and has always been) a late sleeper and he doesn't really like to eat breakfast right away. The other two are early risers and wake me up each morning by saying, "Morning, Momma. I'm hungry." Overall, lunch is easy compared to supper.
Basically I did this by first writing down all of the main courses I could think of. Then, I asked Erik and the children to fill in with their opinion on their favorite meals to eat. From that list, I then filled in my weekly meal planner (a small note pad that I found at Michael's last summer, but previously I just used one of the many free calendars we get in the New Year).
After I got the main courses in, I go back and fill in my side dishes. I am not very creative about side dishes. I'm basically a two item kind of chef. You have the main dish, usually a meat, pasta or fish, and then a side, which is usually just a vegetable. I'm not creative that way and I don't really like to experiment with side dishes. I am a "Plain Jane" in terms of food. I don't like to take away from the true flavor of the food I am serving. I'm not really much of a casserole person either - I like things plain. I'm sure to some people this seems boring, but it makes meal time a lot easier. Erik jokes about the fact that pretty much the only seasoning I use is garlic salt. I have recently managed to expand my seasoning use, but I like to keep it simple.
The one thing I had to plan for specifically is that getting vegetables into my children has become a challenge. Walker actually does very well with plain veggies on his plate, but the younger two often refuse to eat them. A year ago, I really got into a philosophy of cooking loosely called "deceptively delicious."
Jessica Seinfeld, wife of the famous comedian, Jerry, wrote a cookbook of that title offering recipes in which she added 1/4 -1/2 cup of pureed vegetables or fruit to a recipe to enhance the nutrient content. In the book she also discusses whole foods, fresh produce, etc. It is a nice little cook book. My only complaint is that it doesn't really break down what produce works best for items not discussed in the cook book. For example, besides the recipes in her book, what other foods can you hide beets in easily? She lists all the fruits and vegetables she regularly purees and adds to her recipes, but I would have liked it if she also listed what foods the flavor profile works with. I guess it is pretty easy to figure out on your own, but I like to have someone else test it before I go for it. My only other complaint is that she has several recipes for "kid" foods as main dishes for the family meal - dishes like chicken nuggets - things I don't really see as acceptable for our family meal time. I feel it is important to expose our children to "adult" meals and once our children started eating solids, they ate whatever we were eating. I am not a short order chef and I do not make two entrees at each meal. What I cook is what is available. If you choose not to eat it, that's fine, but if you get hungry later, fruit is pretty much your only option.
So, what does my meal plan look like?
It is a cold, frigid, blustery, single digit day here in Western PA so I decided to work on one of my goals for the New Year. My first goal for 2010 is to cook a meal every single night. During the month of December, Erik and I get very lax about eating out. With shopping, preparation for our open house, Christmas Eve, and traveling to my hometown, preparing meals falls to the wayside. The kids live on PB&J, mac n cheese, spaghetti and ravioli. Erik and I eat whatever is left over in the fridge. In fact, we are still eating some left overs from our parties and gatherings.
We've all gotten tired of eating this way, so it is time to get on a real meal plan.
My mother in law got me a beautiful cast iron enameled dutch oven, so I broke it out today to make chili. After getting all the ingredients into the dutch oven, I sat down to devise a meal plan for the coming weeks. My goal was to plan meals up to Valentine's day. I don't really plan breakfast or lunch because those things are relatively easy to throw together. My kids usually eat oatmeal, cereal, eggs, pancakes, etc. Breakfast is ALWAYS the easiest meal at our house. Lunch is sometimes trickier with juggling Walker's appetite and his Kindergarten schedule. Walker is (and has always been) a late sleeper and he doesn't really like to eat breakfast right away. The other two are early risers and wake me up each morning by saying, "Morning, Momma. I'm hungry." Overall, lunch is easy compared to supper.
Over the last few days, I have been collecting meal ideas on a note pad. (This photo was taken after I had already started crossing off my list).
The one thing I had to plan for specifically is that getting vegetables into my children has become a challenge. Walker actually does very well with plain veggies on his plate, but the younger two often refuse to eat them. A year ago, I really got into a philosophy of cooking loosely called "deceptively delicious."
Jessica Seinfeld, wife of the famous comedian, Jerry, wrote a cookbook of that title offering recipes in which she added 1/4 -1/2 cup of pureed vegetables or fruit to a recipe to enhance the nutrient content. In the book she also discusses whole foods, fresh produce, etc. It is a nice little cook book. My only complaint is that it doesn't really break down what produce works best for items not discussed in the cook book. For example, besides the recipes in her book, what other foods can you hide beets in easily? She lists all the fruits and vegetables she regularly purees and adds to her recipes, but I would have liked it if she also listed what foods the flavor profile works with. I guess it is pretty easy to figure out on your own, but I like to have someone else test it before I go for it. My only other complaint is that she has several recipes for "kid" foods as main dishes for the family meal - dishes like chicken nuggets - things I don't really see as acceptable for our family meal time. I feel it is important to expose our children to "adult" meals and once our children started eating solids, they ate whatever we were eating. I am not a short order chef and I do not make two entrees at each meal. What I cook is what is available. If you choose not to eat it, that's fine, but if you get hungry later, fruit is pretty much your only option.
So, what does my meal plan look like?
January 3-9:
3 - Chili loaded w/ black beans, kidney beans and veggies.
4 - Alice Springs Chicken (I found the recipe for this meal online because this is one of Erik's favorite meals at The Outback Steakhouse and the 4th is his birthday) with Caesar Salad (Erik's favorite) and mixed
5 - Chicken Salads - Tuesdays are easy nights! Erik and I usually eat alone because we have Youth Group this night and the children eat at my in-laws house. This is when we get to eat stuff the kids normally don't eat. If I was making a salad for a different night, I usually just keep some chicken set aside for the little two.
6 - BBQ Pulled Pork. We'll either eat this on whole wheat buns or just by itself with green beans and a salad.
7- Slow cooked roast beef with potatoes and carrots (a lot of people call it pot roast).
8 - Beef and Chicken Fajitas with corn and Spanish rice. I'll use left over chicken and roast beef from the previous meals to make this.
9 - Beef Vegetable soup. I have a batch of this frozen in the freezer from earlier this fall. I'll serve it with some crusty bread - yum-O!
10 - Ribs. We got kind of tired of ribs after our cook off this summer, but it's time to start practicing again! I'll probably serve Baked Beans and Coleslaw with this.
11 - Spaghetti with meat sauce and veggies
12 - We'll be eating whatever is left over from the previous week. We're leaving the 13th for Harrisburg and the PA State Farm Show, so the next 5 days we'll be combining eating out with my plan for saving money by bringing food to make lunch and avoid the food court temptation at the Farm Show. Trust me, we'd love to eat all of our meals at the concessions - the various food councils - beef, pork, poultry, etc., all have exceptional food booths providing delicious meals, but, like all concessions, they are a bit on the pricey side, so I try to bring sandwiches for our main lunch then allow for a concession treat. One of our favorite is the fried mozzarella cubes - I look forward to those every year! Another way to save money is that we get our hotel online through hotwire.com and choose a hotel that provides breakfast. We're able to eat a great breakfast and usually I can take some yogurt and fruit from the breakfast buffet for snacking at the farm show. Another great trick is to take some plastic spoons and those little single servings of peanut butter that they provide at the breakfast buffet. My kids love to just eat peanut butter on a spoon - this way takes a little longer because they have to dig the peanut butter out of those little cups.
Anyway, this meal plan goes on and on - I was actually even able to plan through February 27th!
A couple other tips that I'll share that have helped me with meal planning:
1) if you have a lot of cookbooks, go through the cook books searching for recipes your family would enjoy. In a journal or notebook, divide the book into sections - appetizers, soups and salads, main entrees, side dishes, desserts. As you find a recipe your family would enjoy, instead of recopying the recipe onto a card, in the notebook under the appropriate section, record the title of the recipe, the name of the recipe and the page number the recipe is on. You only have to go through a cook book once to see if there are any good recipes. I've done this for myself in a small journal:
2) If I have a great recipe I found from the internet or have gotten from someone else, I put the recipe card into photo albums. It makes it easy to find and you can leave the card in the plastic cover so you don't spill on it! I have one large album I use for recipes I make a lot/recipes I know are tried and true family favorites. I also have several small photo albums that I use. Each one is labeled for different purposes. One book is for cookies and desserts, one for recipes I've been given that I'm meaning to try. I also have books specific to birthday parties or holidays. Those are filled with both recipes and craft and game ideas.
Whenever possible, I try to buy and serve whole foods. We do still enjoy our processed foods too - blue box macaroni and cheese and the like, but while I'm not perfect at it, compared to a lot of America, I'm cooking healthier than most. Additionally, we have the advantage and privilege to have two freezers full of home grown or locally grown beef, poultry and pork. I'm not even going to go into it in this post, but if you want to improve your health, your community and the world, start investigating local farms and purchasing "freezer meats." There are several farmers I know of just in the South Butler area that offer beef for sale. My brother in law raises and sells pork this way as well. We have been raising our own poultry for three years now. Yes, purchasing meat this way can be more expensive, but the health benefits are more than worth it. There is a lot of controversy whether you should be buying organic or not, but for now, I think it is more important to buy locally. Small local farmers do not have the need for antibiotics, growth hormones, etc., that mega farm feed lots do. The cows are born in healthier environments, raised in healthier environments and are treated better. Same goes with chickens, turkeys and hogs. I do not have a garden and I do not "put up" my own vegetables. I am not a dedicated gardener and year after year my vegetable garden falls to the weeds. However, I have discovered that during peak seasons, my favorite local produce market, Ambrose's, has a wide variety of produce available for purchase in bulk and the prices are so reasonable it makes it silly to have a garden of my own. I just buy, blanch and freeze locally raised beans, corn and whatever else is looking good. I'm also a fan of the frozen produce at the grocery store. The prices are reasonable and most products are flash frozen within 24 hours of being picked, so in the winter, buying frozen vegetables are really the best way to get the bang for your buck.
Hopefully this inspires or helps any of you wanting to get your meal strategy in place for the New Year.
More Bethany House publishing
If you follow my blog, you know that I've been participating in a program through Bethany House Publishing where they send me free books and I read them and post reviews. This last batch was all historical fiction.
The first book is Though Waters Roar by Lynn Austin.
Harriet opens the book lying on a cot in a jail cell, reflecting on the irony of her arrest. Through reflection (flashbacks) she tells the stories of the women in her life. Her grandmother, Grandma Bebe, her mother and through them, her own story. The stories begin in 1848 and cover such important issues of slavery, war, prohibition, and women's suffrage. Each character plays a vital role in Harriet's life and how she has developed into the young woman she is today. Harriet is struggling with her life. She looks at the lives of her mother and grandmother and feels she has nothing important to offer the world. Her grandmother defies every traditional woman's role for the time, and her mother spent the majority of her life conforming to those roles. Harriet struggles with understanding how to grow into the woman she is meant to be based on the strong influences of her grandmother and mother.
The stories are very engaging and as a woman, daughter and mother, I related to the individual stories of each woman and their relationships with each other. I highly recommend this book.
The second book to review is The Silent Gift by Michael Landon and Cindy Kelley. I enjoyed this book but I felt the plot had too many twists and turns, too much drama and not enough story development between Mary Sinclair and her son, Jack. Some of the events just seemed too unrealistic and far fetched to make the story believable. It is overall a sweet story and will keep you entertained and interested.
Mary's son Jack is labeled a "deaf mute" in the book, but it was my impression that today, he would be considered autistic. The year is 1938 - the end of the Great Depression and Mary's husband, Jerry, has been struggling to make ends meet for many months. Mary does her best to keep things together, but Jerry is not content making meager wages and continues to search for "something better." Mary soon discovers that Jerry has found "something better" in the arms of another woman, and the business trip he has told Mary about, is actually a trip to get a quickie divorce. He has emptied his bank accounts and Mary realizes she is going to be left penniless and helpless. She manages to take the money Jerry has liquidated and she and Jack make their get away.
Just as soon as Mary thinks she has gotten away and gets set up in a new city, she loses the money she stole from her husband and is left penniless. At the Salvation Army, Mary learns that Jack has a gift. He is able to meet with a person and give them a "prediction" so to speak. These predictions come in the form of numbers that are associated to the book, chapter, and verse in the Bible. Jack becomes notorious for his "predictions" and through a series of coincidences, he and Mary are recognized by con artist who both befriends them and exploits them. Unexpectedly, Jerry shows up and claims custody of Jack, devastating Mary. She is prisoned and Jack manages to escape from Jerry and is placed in a mental health institution. Mary eventually is released from prison and she continues her desperate search for her son. Just when she gives up hope, an unexpected ally comes to her aide and by chance, they eventually find Jack and the Mother and Son are reunited.
The third book to review is A Measure of Mercy by Lauraine Snelling. This book is the first in the series Home to Blessing. It is apparent very early on in the book that the characters and location are written about in another series. Snelling does a good job of making you feel familiar with the characters, but you do get the sense that you are missing something from not reading the previous books.
A Measure of Mercy focuses on the life of Astrid Bjorklund as she completes her medical training under the instruction of her sister in law, Elizabeth. She is faced with the choice of remaining in her home town of Blessing, North Dakota, or traveling to Chicago to formalize her training at the Alfred Morganstein Hospital for Women and Children. She eventually decides to make the trip to Chicago, much to the dismay of Joshua Landsverk, who has returned to Blessing in the hopes of being remembered by Astrid and perhaps courting her.
The story of a young woman training to be a doctor is interesting and Astrid's struggle to make a choice based on God's calling is dynamic. She is relatable in that she struggles greatly with knowing and understanding what God is telling her. She tries to turn to her mother, a faithful example, but feels that she must be lacking something because of her mother's unfailing faith. On top of her struggles with medical school, Astrid struggles with the thought that she is being called to become a medical missionary in Africa. In the meantime, Joshua struggles with attempting to have a long distance relationship with Astrid, made even harder by the fact that Astrid is not aware of his intentions towards her.
Overall, this is a very interesting story and left me anticipating the next installment. In the meantime, I will definitely be reading the previous series about Blessing.
The fourth and final book to review is part of another series (Diamond of the Rockies). The Rose Legacy follows Carina Maria DiGratia as she leaves her home in Sonoma and travels to the legendary Crystal Colorado. She leaves behind a doting Italian family, her culture, and betrayal by her sister in an attempt to show them all that she is just fine and will make a new life for herself in beautiful Crystal. A series of unfortunate events leave Carina, a victim of false advertising, with no money, no assets, abandoned in a corrupt mining town. An unscrupulous lawyer, Berkley Beck, befriends Carina, telling her that he is her only hope. As Carina works for him as his secretary, she uncovers the web of lies he has told. She struggles with trusting anyone, but finds that for some reason, she instinctively trusts Quillan Shepard, the freighter that sends her wagon full of her most precious belongings to their destruction over the mountainside. Carina wants to hate Quillan, but finds that he is the only person she can truly rely on. In the midst of a town full of corruption, greed, and lacking God, Carina struggles with her faith and uncovers the beautiful love story of Quillan's parents. The end of the book is left with a bit of a cliff hangar leaving you anticipating the next book in the series. While I struggled sometimes with what seemed like inconsequential details, the story was engaging and was a great combination of romance, faith and historical drama.
Happy reading everyone!
The second book to review is The Silent Gift by Michael Landon and Cindy Kelley. I enjoyed this book but I felt the plot had too many twists and turns, too much drama and not enough story development between Mary Sinclair and her son, Jack. Some of the events just seemed too unrealistic and far fetched to make the story believable. It is overall a sweet story and will keep you entertained and interested.
Mary's son Jack is labeled a "deaf mute" in the book, but it was my impression that today, he would be considered autistic. The year is 1938 - the end of the Great Depression and Mary's husband, Jerry, has been struggling to make ends meet for many months. Mary does her best to keep things together, but Jerry is not content making meager wages and continues to search for "something better." Mary soon discovers that Jerry has found "something better" in the arms of another woman, and the business trip he has told Mary about, is actually a trip to get a quickie divorce. He has emptied his bank accounts and Mary realizes she is going to be left penniless and helpless. She manages to take the money Jerry has liquidated and she and Jack make their get away.
Just as soon as Mary thinks she has gotten away and gets set up in a new city, she loses the money she stole from her husband and is left penniless. At the Salvation Army, Mary learns that Jack has a gift. He is able to meet with a person and give them a "prediction" so to speak. These predictions come in the form of numbers that are associated to the book, chapter, and verse in the Bible. Jack becomes notorious for his "predictions" and through a series of coincidences, he and Mary are recognized by con artist who both befriends them and exploits them. Unexpectedly, Jerry shows up and claims custody of Jack, devastating Mary. She is prisoned and Jack manages to escape from Jerry and is placed in a mental health institution. Mary eventually is released from prison and she continues her desperate search for her son. Just when she gives up hope, an unexpected ally comes to her aide and by chance, they eventually find Jack and the Mother and Son are reunited.
The third book to review is A Measure of Mercy by Lauraine Snelling. This book is the first in the series Home to Blessing. It is apparent very early on in the book that the characters and location are written about in another series. Snelling does a good job of making you feel familiar with the characters, but you do get the sense that you are missing something from not reading the previous books.
A Measure of Mercy focuses on the life of Astrid Bjorklund as she completes her medical training under the instruction of her sister in law, Elizabeth. She is faced with the choice of remaining in her home town of Blessing, North Dakota, or traveling to Chicago to formalize her training at the Alfred Morganstein Hospital for Women and Children. She eventually decides to make the trip to Chicago, much to the dismay of Joshua Landsverk, who has returned to Blessing in the hopes of being remembered by Astrid and perhaps courting her.
The story of a young woman training to be a doctor is interesting and Astrid's struggle to make a choice based on God's calling is dynamic. She is relatable in that she struggles greatly with knowing and understanding what God is telling her. She tries to turn to her mother, a faithful example, but feels that she must be lacking something because of her mother's unfailing faith. On top of her struggles with medical school, Astrid struggles with the thought that she is being called to become a medical missionary in Africa. In the meantime, Joshua struggles with attempting to have a long distance relationship with Astrid, made even harder by the fact that Astrid is not aware of his intentions towards her.
Overall, this is a very interesting story and left me anticipating the next installment. In the meantime, I will definitely be reading the previous series about Blessing.
The fourth and final book to review is part of another series (Diamond of the Rockies). The Rose Legacy follows Carina Maria DiGratia as she leaves her home in Sonoma and travels to the legendary Crystal Colorado. She leaves behind a doting Italian family, her culture, and betrayal by her sister in an attempt to show them all that she is just fine and will make a new life for herself in beautiful Crystal. A series of unfortunate events leave Carina, a victim of false advertising, with no money, no assets, abandoned in a corrupt mining town. An unscrupulous lawyer, Berkley Beck, befriends Carina, telling her that he is her only hope. As Carina works for him as his secretary, she uncovers the web of lies he has told. She struggles with trusting anyone, but finds that for some reason, she instinctively trusts Quillan Shepard, the freighter that sends her wagon full of her most precious belongings to their destruction over the mountainside. Carina wants to hate Quillan, but finds that he is the only person she can truly rely on. In the midst of a town full of corruption, greed, and lacking God, Carina struggles with her faith and uncovers the beautiful love story of Quillan's parents. The end of the book is left with a bit of a cliff hangar leaving you anticipating the next book in the series. While I struggled sometimes with what seemed like inconsequential details, the story was engaging and was a great combination of romance, faith and historical drama.
Happy reading everyone!
Maggie's preschool program
Friday, December 18th, Maggie had the opportunity to perform in her preschool program. I knew that they were doing certain songs because they were the only songs I heard her sing for about a month.
I wish that for the preschool portion of the program the school would leave the house lights up so we could get good pictures. Unfortunately, the ceiling of the school gymnasium/auditorium is painted a dark blue gray, so there is no chance for my external flash to be of any help in lighting the cast. 
The first song was Jingle Bells followed by Away in A Manger, God Made Me, and the grand finale was Skidamarink.
I don't think I'm ever prepared for how adorable the program actually is. My heart beat a little bit faster as the children filed into the gymnasium and the teachers lined them up on stage. Maggie got up on stage, scanned the crowed and waved at us. She was so excited. Once the music started, our dancing girl got her groove on, swaying to the beat and going along with all of the hand motions. I was overcome at how small yet big and young yet mature she seemed up there on that stage. She was completely unaffected by the crowd or by the children around her that had stage fright and forgot the songs and the motions they had practiced for so long. It always surprises me that my children are able to perform so easily since I am very bad at preparing them for what the program actually entails - getting up on stage in front of about 100 or so people and singing and dancing. I'm so glad that they seem to enjoy performing and do so with gusto. I'm very proud of how hard the practice and how much they want to please.
Maggie just melted my heart yet again that night. That's such a great feeling. I'm so grateful to have been so blessed.
Maggie just melted my heart yet again that night. That's such a great feeling. I'm so grateful to have been so blessed.
I wish that for the preschool portion of the program the school would leave the house lights up so we could get good pictures. Unfortunately, the ceiling of the school gymnasium/auditorium is painted a dark blue gray, so there is no chance for my external flash to be of any help in lighting the cast. The first song was Jingle Bells followed by Away in A Manger, God Made Me, and the grand finale was Skidamarink.Many family members have asked questions about the origins of the song - I remember hearing it on a TV show my sisters watched called Sharon, Lois and Brahm. Here is a little information I found on Wikipedia on the song.
Skidamarink is a very popular children's song with a long history. It was originally the grand finale song of the 1910 Broadway musical, "The Echo". Since the title is gibberish, it has had various spellings over the years.
Though the original musical only lasted a few months, the song endured and was re-popularized in the 1950s by Jimmy Durante.
The song began appearing on many song collections for children's shows in the 1980s. The most popular versions were by the Australian show, Bananas in Pyjamas, and the Canadian show, The Elephant Show.
Several years after the conclusions of The Elephant Show, in the late 1990s, the original performers on that show, Sharon, Lois & Bram, briefly had their own show entitled, Skinnamarink TV.
[edit]Typical Version of Lyrics
Skidamarink a dinky dink,
Skidamarin,ky doo,
I - love - you!
Skidamarink a dinky dink,
Skidamarinky doo,
I - love - you!
I love you in the morning
and in the afternoon,
I love you in the evening
and underneath the moon;
Oh, Skidamarink a dinky dink,
Skidamarinky doo,
I - LOVE - YOU!
I love you, Maggie May!
Puppies and kittens and Christmas . . .Oh My!
You've probably noticed I haven't blogged in quite a while. The reason for this is that I am not good at keeping secrets - especially when those secrets involve my daily life.
Holly's first night with us we were afraid she would be lonely, so we brought Roscoe/Hank in to live with her. He was not so thrilled about learning to crate train two years into his life. His expression here is: I AM NOT A PUPPY!
Little "Brownie" is about 7 weeks younger than Holly so he had a lot to learn. Holly was an angel, never making a mess on the floor, eating her food properly and lady like, leaving her crate and heading right out the door and promptly scratching the door when she wanted back in. Brownie would take two steps out of the crate and would mess on the floor. (Did I mention how grateful I am for the concrete floor in my sunroom?) He also liked to use his paw to tip his food bowl over and spill food all over the floor to eat it. Messy. We had to carry him to the door, shove him outside, and hurridly shut the door on him so he wouldn't sneak back in. He was not fond of the snow and cold.
I don't think we were able to pull our secrets off. Travis saw the pups one night after I tried SO hard to keep them secret. I had threatened the kids within an inch of their lives about keeping the puppies a secret. I didn't blog because I was afraid I would accidentally say something about the puppies in a post. One night while Erik & Travis were helping a friend with some car problems, I left the pups out for their final bathroom break before bed and I didn't know that Travis was coming back to the house and he saw them outside. Bill also saw the pups before the big day, but we tried to convince him that we got two puppies - one for Taylor and one for Chet.
Shortly after Thanksgiving, Erik & I drove North and picked out a puppy to give to Travis's family for Christmas.
Meet Holly. She was named on Christmas after her family officially received her. During her three week stay at our house she was referred to as "puppy," "blackie" and "Sissy." She may also believe her name is "Treat" because I was always yelling that when I wanted her to return to the house.
About a week after we picked up Holly, Erik, his mom & the kids travelled to Ohio to get another puppy for Erik's dad. Here is Maggie holding the yet to be named puppy. He was called "Brownie" for the time he was at my house.
I could fib and tell you these puppies overtook my life and I spent every moment caring for, cleaning up after and training these two beasts. But, that would be an obvious lie. As evidenced by this picture.
I could fib and tell you these puppies overtook my life and I spent every moment caring for, cleaning up after and training these two beasts. But, that would be an obvious lie. As evidenced by this picture. The pups quickly adapted to crate training and this became the normal state of puppiness at our house. Can't you tell they were just horrid? I don't know how I got anything decorated, baked or bought for Christmas because all of my time was spent caring for puppies. Yeah, right. My kids were harder to wrangle this month!
Holly's first night with us we were afraid she would be lonely, so we brought Roscoe/Hank in to live with her. He was not so thrilled about learning to crate train two years into his life. His expression here is: I AM NOT A PUPPY!Little "Brownie" is about 7 weeks younger than Holly so he had a lot to learn. Holly was an angel, never making a mess on the floor, eating her food properly and lady like, leaving her crate and heading right out the door and promptly scratching the door when she wanted back in. Brownie would take two steps out of the crate and would mess on the floor. (Did I mention how grateful I am for the concrete floor in my sunroom?) He also liked to use his paw to tip his food bowl over and spill food all over the floor to eat it. Messy. We had to carry him to the door, shove him outside, and hurridly shut the door on him so he wouldn't sneak back in. He was not fond of the snow and cold.I don't think we were able to pull our secrets off. Travis saw the pups one night after I tried SO hard to keep them secret. I had threatened the kids within an inch of their lives about keeping the puppies a secret. I didn't blog because I was afraid I would accidentally say something about the puppies in a post. One night while Erik & Travis were helping a friend with some car problems, I left the pups out for their final bathroom break before bed and I didn't know that Travis was coming back to the house and he saw them outside. Bill also saw the pups before the big day, but we tried to convince him that we got two puppies - one for Taylor and one for Chet.Bill seemed pretty surprised Christmas morning and most of the other Schwalm's were excited to receive Holly. We also gave Taylor a kitten, so she was way more interested in that little ball of fur.
Thus ends the story of why I didn't post for over a month. Things are going to change! I've got lots of pictures and even some video to post of our Christmas activities. Lots of fun! Here are some preview pictures. My little angels had a wonderful Christmas and we're looking forward to an amazing New Year as we anticipate the arrival of baby #4 in June. I'm already 17 weeks!
Thanksgiving weekend at the Lezzer Farm
Christmas Morning waiting on the stairs for Mimi & Papa Ralph and Donna & Danny to arrive to watch us open our gifts.
Christmas morning after the gift opening and all the gifts shoved under the tree.
Sisters
Especially older sisters.
I know this because I am the oldest sister. And I admit, I was pretty cruel at times. I was bossy, manipulative, and did I mention I was bossy?
I'm afraid my daughter may have picked up some of those less than desireable traits.
For instance, take this picture here. It is a picture of my youngest two while playing dress up. Now, mind you, I don't doubt for one minute that Will was completely compliant and willing to dress in Maggie's Halloween peacock costume. I'm sure it was probably even his idea. But I can bet you that Maggie took a little bit of joy in dressing him up like a girl because when she came downstairs she said, "Wook Momma, I dwessed Wiwl up wike a gerl."
I think perhaps in this picture, reality has set in and Will realizes what his sister has done to him and that his mother has captured it digitally and will use it to manipulate and boss him around in the future when he is not doing what she wants him to do. Especially when he brings girls to the house.
Not that he will because he is not growing up.Now, for a little commentary on my sisters.
A few weekends ago, my Mom, sisters & I took a cooking enthusiasts course at the Pennsylvania Culinary Institute. It was on Holiday appetizers. It was tons of fun and we made and sampled some delicious food.
I was very excited for the opportunity to get to hang w/ my mom and sisters because it is something we rarely get to do. Katie & I both have children and finding time to leave them is sometimes difficult. Erin is a busy bank lady and Lara, well, she is our social butterfly and always has tons of stuff going on. So when we all decided to do this - as our Christmas gift to each other - I was excited. As the weekend approached I was even more excited - I was ready for a grown up weekend away!
So here we are after the class was over. From left is Lara, Erin, (people often ask them if they are twins, they are not) my mom, Katie and me. Lets point some sisterly things out here. First, I don't think any of us look anything alike. Maybe my sister Katie looks like my mom, but I don't think the rest of us do. Yet anywhere we go, people always say, "Are you sisters?"
I planned for this weekend carefully. My younger sisters, aged 27 and 24, are always dressed to the height of fashion. That height of fashion almost ALWAYS includes sky high, wedge your feet in, three inch or higher heels. Erin, in fact, has actually willed her feet to shrink a half size or more so that she can wear cuter and daintier styles of sky high heels. Okay, so we think she endures the ancient art of Japanese foot binding in order to have the smaller shoe size, but whatever.
Lara, the hip, young fashionista, has a closet full of shoes that she keeps in their original boxes which she has labeled with the shoe description so she knows anytime she looks in the closet what she is getting.
Katie, just entering her 30s is still at the age where she can transition easily from mom to stylish young mom with no difficulty. And she shares the same shoe size as my sister, Lara, so she frequently gets to borrow hip and trendy styles from her. They also have reasonably average size feet.
My mom shares a shoe size with Katie and Lara but she is literally unable to wear flats. Of any form. She actually even wears platform sneakers! My mom will go around the house in bare feet or flats and will say, "Ugh, I've got to go put some shoes on w/ a heel. My feet are killing me." That's just wrong!
Enter me: an old lady, with three children under the age of 5, having endured three pregnancies that have lengthened and widened my already gigantor size 10 feet to an 11 wide. I cannot contort my foot into those beautiful and stylish heels (nor can I find beautiful and stylish shoes in size 11) so I am left with matronly and plain flats. On this special occasion, I managed to find a pair of 11w wedge heels in an adorable black toile canvas. Sure, the were a little summery, but the were 3" wedges, which meant that I would be able to wear them with almost no problem. Best of all, I found them on clearance for $5! I knew it was providence that I found them and they were meant to be worn for my weekend w/ my stylish and fashionable sisters. I spent hours coordinating an outfit to wear with them. I didn't want to wear anything too hot - we'd be cooking in a commercial kitchen after all, but I wanted to look as fashionable as my sisters. I settled on a red blouse, black jeans and my new wedge shoes.
The morning of our class was a little hurried as we finished getting ready at the hotel and went downstairs for breakfast. We all arrived and ate in stages, so I didn't really take a good look at everyone to see what everyone else was wearing. We rushed through a quick continental breakfast, to the car and then into Pittsburgh to find a parking garage and walk to PCI.
I was worried as I put on my new shoes that they were a little tight, but as we walked from the parking garage to the cooking school, they loosened up and I was able to wear them all class. I also got several compliments from my sisters on how cute the shoes were. Since it was before 9 am in the city, things were really quiet, and as we walked to the school, we were able to spread out a bit and walk at our own paces. We made some light hearted jokes to my sister Erin about her boots and asked if she was going to an equestrian competition after class. Once in class, we got our supplies and our instructions and were too busy cooking to really come together as a group to talk and tease much as we are prone to do when we are together. After we finished cooking, we sampled everything.
I made crab cakes - very delish. Lara made the yummiest Polenta I have ever had. It was a creamy, cheesy polenta topped with sauteed mushrooms. Katie made an Scallop Escabiche in cucumber cups which were delicious too. I was excited to try and escabiche as I see them make it on Top Chef all the time, but I was never sure what it tasted like. I don't think the rest of my family liked it as much as I did, which is surprising because it had fresh, chopped tomato in it, and I HATE tomato (except for sauce or ketchup - which is a whole other blog post). Erin made a parmesan peppercorn Biscotti which was surprisingly yummy. We all decided that if we made it at home, we'd use less peppercorn and eat it as a bread rather than a biscotti. None of us like the harness of a biscotti. Finally, my mom made grilled zucchini strips stuffed with spinach and herbed goat cheese.We all felt the goat cheese was way too strong and were trying to think of a good alternative cheese to fill the zucchini with. We thought maybe feta. And instead of serving it cold, we'd serve it warm.
Finally, class was over and we were getting ready to leave downtown to head to McKnight Road to do some shopping. I asked a fellow classmate to take our picture. Here it is. Jennie the Giant with her mom and sisters. I am a good HEAD taller than everyone in the picture! The one time this crew decides to wear flats and I'm wearing heels pushing my usual 5'8" to almost 6 feet! Good grief!
So here we are after the class was over. From left is Lara, Erin, (people often ask them if they are twins, they are not) my mom, Katie and me. Lets point some sisterly things out here. First, I don't think any of us look anything alike. Maybe my sister Katie looks like my mom, but I don't think the rest of us do. Yet anywhere we go, people always say, "Are you sisters?"We are sisters. And I'm grateful and blessed to have such wonderful women in my life.
Thanks, girls, for a wonderful time. And special thanks to Mom who graciously funded the entire operation.
Let's do it again really soon . . . I need to get out of the house.
Maggie & I watch the CMA Awards.
First thing out of Maggie's mouth upon seeing Carrie Underwood: "Oh, Momma!" Sucks in her breath, "She's so beautiful! She looks so shiny and sparkly. Can I have a dress like that please?" After the commercial break, Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood come back on stage. Maggie's comment, "Hey, she changed from her sparkly dress. Wonder if she changed her shoes? Momma, him changed too." Darius Rucker performing: "Momma, what is this song? Me: "It's 'Alright'" Maggie sings, "Alright, Alright" Says: "Oh, like in the car "Alright"?" Maggie during Miranda Lambert's performance: "Momma, hims hair is crazy!" (Guitarist had spiked mohawk). "Her hair is not crazy, thank goodness."
During George Strait's performance: "Wow! He's a real cowboy!"
Time goes by so . . .not slowly!
I cannot believe how long it has been since I last posted. I'm not really sure where the time has gone! We've started Christmas shopping already and I'm making my plans to decorate for the season. And as many of you know, since November 1, we've been listening to Christmas music around here. What else have we been up to? Not much, but here's a little re-cap.
Here's Maggie in her full costume at the Clearview Mall trick or treat event. She got many a compliment from the shop keepers. Walker was at a birthday party that night at Chuck E Cheeses, so the little two had a lot of fun trick or treating. Will was pretty amazed that all he had to do was walk up to someone, say "tic tea" and they would put candy in his bucket. Woo-hoo! Will would not stand still for a Mall picture because he was too intent on getting candy out of his bucket.
Halloween has come and gone. I managed to pull off Maggie's costume after some procrastination regarding the costume materials. This was the inspiration for the costume. It sold on ebay for $140!
I lucked out in that I found a supplier to purchase 175 yards of tulle in 3, 6, and 9 inch widths in various colors. I negated that luck by waiting too long to find the fabric and paying double for expedited shipping. In hindsight, I probably would have gotten all of the materials to complete her costume in plenty of time, but I was afraid it wouldn't come, so I paid for the shipping. So, I paid less than I would have had I purchased the costume from one of the crafters on etsy.com
or ebay, but I spent more than I should have. However, the costume was an award winner. We participated in the local Saxonburg Halloween VFD parade and Maggie won 2nd place for best costume in her age division. Here's a picture of the kids following the parade. It had been a pretty decent day - we had Will's birthday party and we decided to go to the parade last minute. I hadn't realized how fast the weather had gotten cold, and by the time we got to the parade, it had started to sprinkle. We sat in the car until the parade stared and then braved the mist and walked the parade route. It quickly quit raining, but it was cold. Once octopus would not walk, so he got to ride in the stroller. We had some trouble with the octopus costumes because the arms were so heavy they pulled the sweatshirts and made them stretch and pucker. The boys were happy with them though, so that is all that matters.
Here's Maggie in her full costume at the Clearview Mall trick or treat event. She got many a compliment from the shop keepers. Walker was at a birthday party that night at Chuck E Cheeses, so the little two had a lot of fun trick or treating. Will was pretty amazed that all he had to do was walk up to someone, say "tic tea" and they would put candy in his bucket. Woo-hoo! Will would not stand still for a Mall picture because he was too intent on getting candy out of his bucket.Maggie is already thinking about next year's costume. She wants to be a lady bug or a bumble bee. I think I can handle that. Walker, a little jealous over Maggie's parade win, asked if he could wear Maggie's peacock costume next year. I love that he is still innocent enough to not understand that wearing that costume would cause him to be teased.
It's such a fine line, isn't it, treading that area between wanting your child to be able to do or be anything he/she wants and not allowing them to do it because you know it will cause them to be teased or tortured. It saddens me that we live in a society that kids just can't be what they want to be because they will be teased about their choices by other kids. Walker doesn't understand that Maggie's peacock is a "girl" costume. He just wants to have a costume that will win him a prize. It is for reasons such as this that I understand why people home school. I just pray that I am doing my job right and that he will be able to withstand the pressures of society and will live true to himself. It's going to be a rough road. He's already picking up some unflattering language at school that we have to address. We're doing our best to explain to him why we feel what he is saying is wrong, but I know how hard it is to resist repeating what most of his friends are saying. At least for now, he's slipping up in front of us and we can reprimand him and talk about why we don't want him to say that. I know when he gets older, he'll have the awareness to watch what he says around us. It's such a struggle being a parent. I have so many moments daily that I wonder if I'm using those "teaching" moments wisely, taking each opportunity to teach my children the values Erik and I want them to have.
Will we succeed? I'm not sure. I feel that Erik and I are strong parents and our children are clear about what we expect of our family. For now, I just try to review each day and remember the funny and silly things the kids say and do.
Some of the most memorable of late:
Walker participates in the "Book It" reading program at his school. In October, he was challenged to read eight books and record the title and author of each book and turn in a form to his teacher. After he did, he received a coupon for a free personal pan pizza. Maggie, jealous that Walker got to earn his own pizza asked me, "Momma, when am I going to get a poo-con to get a free pizza?"
Willie James is really talking up a storm now and loves to sing. His favorite song to sing right now is "Happy Birthday" and he sings it to his favorite girl, Ella. Here's also in love with football and loves to watch it on TV. He asks to wear his "Stee" (Steeler) shirt and just tonight was enthralled with the game.
Life in futility . . .
Being a stay at home mom is very rewarding. I wouldn't change anything about my choice, however, after five and a half years of this profession, I have realized that it is basically an exercise in futility - at least for me. In case you are not familiar with the definition of futile, I've looked it up.
Main Entry: fu·tile Function: adjectiveEtymology: Middle French or Latin; Middle French, from Latin futilis brittle, pointless, probably from fu- (akin tofundere to pour) — more atfoundDate: circa 1555
I guess if I try to look at things in a positive light, I could interpret the scattered toys as an inexpensive home security system. This batch of toys was dumped out right on the mat at the front door. Not that anyone uses our front door -we don't have any steps or a porch leading up to our front door, so it is basically a door to nowhere. But in case someone did try to come in our front door, there is this nice mound of toys for them to have to get past.
Fortunately, this mound of toys is also smack dab at the bottom of the stairs too - so it is a double whammy of deterring burglars and damaging Momma's bare feet. Nothing like a plastic farm animal to wake you up in the morning!
1 : serving no useful purpose : completely ineffective
synonyms futile, vain, fruitless mean producing no result. futile may connote completeness of failure or unwisdom of undertakingfutile that surrender was the only choice left> . vain usually implies failure to achieve a desired result vainattempt to get the car started>.fruitless comes close to vain but often suggests long and arduous effort or severe disappointment <fruitlessefforts to obtain a lasting peace>.
Today is one of those days that everywhere I look, I see projects that need completed, basic chores that need done, and I really feel no inclination to do any of it. All I see is long and arduous effort ending in severe disappointment!
Let's just start with the kitchen. I won't even go into the dishes that need cleaned up and put into the dishwasher. Today I'll just talk about the futility of sweeping the floor. Erik was in charge of supper last night because I went to Bible Study and he kept the kids busy playing outside in leaves until late. Erik never says anything when I want to go do something for myself, so I really shouldn't complain that he doesn't clean up to my specifications, but sometimes, because of the futility of cleaning, I do get a little frustrated when he leaves messes for me to take care of - like this. He didn't sweep the floor under the island after the kids ate.
Crumbs and a hunk of cheese are still lying there. I really can't fault him, because I really do understand how futile it is to sweep. There will just be another mess there in another 2 hours
when it is snack time.
On a positive note, this just reconfirms my gladness at putting in the hardwood instead of a different surface. This flooring is so forgiving, hides most messes, and unless there is a glob of mud on the floor, hides my dirty floors well. It's a little gross, but what can I say, farm life makes cleaning futile. I no sooner get the floor clean than someone walks through with their boots on. I do believe that some of this futility will be alleviated when Christmas comes. I have dropped several not so subtle hints that I want the Shark Pocket Steam Mop. I hope Santa remembers that I want it so desperately!
On to the laundry. This is my laundry/mud room.
When we remodeled the house, it was a large pantry. At the time I thought, "Whatever would I need with such a large pantry?" So we gutted it, moved the door around and the pantry became the much needed laundry and mud room. At the time, with just Erik and me, I thought the room was so big. Five years later it is waaaayyy too small for our family of five. There isn't enough room for our muddy boots, dirty clothes, coveralls and coats, etc. I hate going into that room and not just because of the mounds of laundry that are there waiting for me on an hourly
basis. It is a constant reminder of how futile cleanliness on a farm is.
This is a picture of my dream laundry room. I dream of a laundry where I have TONS of room. My idea is that the laundry room will be the main closet for the entire house. When our kids get older, instead of me folding clothes and putting them away for them, they will be instructed to come to the laundry room to get their clothes - if they do not - oh well - the clothes will be hanging from the racks or be folded into neatly designated drawers for each person of the house. Can't find your shirt - check the laundry room.
Isn't this laundry room just lovely? This room is courtesy of Hampton Design and I have provided a link to the website here. Great job! It is just beautiful. And if anyone would like to offer to help me achieve this laundry room by building an addition onto my house, I will happily accept. : )
http://www.hamptondesign.com/built_ins5.html
How beautiful is the white farmhouse sink? I don't even have a plastic washtub in my laundry room right now. I know I shouldn't complain because I could have a room this large if I chose to move my laundry to the root cellar (basement) where it is dark,dank, and drippy! I know it is a luxury to have my laundry off the kitchen where I have easy access to it all the time, but I would love to just have a little more space! I can't even imagine what things are going to get like once the kids get older and their clothes are bigger!
Can you imagine having three whatever those are??? I'd settle for a dryer that dries faster!
Let's not even get into the futility of folding clothes, putting them away and the daily struggle that is!
Our next area of futility for me is toys. I don't know how we have accumulated so much, how it seems to multiply in the toy bins, or why my children can clean up any other place they are, but at home. I guess it could be worse - they could actually NOT play with any of their toys. But they do - all the time. They just don't put anything away in the right place, which leads to bigger and bigger messes. I have tried countless times to sort though the toys, arranged them in the appropriate bins, took pictures of the toys that belong in those bins and attached them so the kids could easily identify what goes where but they still just throw stuff into bins at random when I say clean up. Thus causing them to not know where particular items are which leads them to dump EVERY bin in the area out until they find what they were looking for.
I guess if I try to look at things in a positive light, I could interpret the scattered toys as an inexpensive home security system. This batch of toys was dumped out right on the mat at the front door. Not that anyone uses our front door -we don't have any steps or a porch leading up to our front door, so it is basically a door to nowhere. But in case someone did try to come in our front door, there is this nice mound of toys for them to have to get past.Fortunately, this mound of toys is also smack dab at the bottom of the stairs too - so it is a double whammy of deterring burglars and damaging Momma's bare feet. Nothing like a plastic farm animal to wake you up in the morning!
Well, I suppose my rant on the futility of chores around this place has been futile. In the time it took to post this, I probably could have had all of it cleaned up. I just needed to vent a bit.
And as my dear neighbor, Donna, tells me, the children will be grown up before I know it and I will miss the days of seeing these toys, mounds of laundry and crumbs on the floor.
I'm sure I will, but right now dreaming of the future is just futile.
Surprises
Nick at Nite is terrific for women with new babies that get up in the middle of the night to nurse. It kept me entertained for months after I had all of my babies. All of my babies were unusual nursers in that they early on got onto a schedule of eating every 4 to 6 hours but when it was time to eat, they nursed for at least an hour. Which left me incapacitated for that time. For those midnight feedings, I was always afraid to lay in bed with the newborn, so I would get up and go downstairs to nurse and if I didn't watch TV, I'd fall asleep myself. I was afraid of dropping the baby if I fell asleep, so I had to keep myself up.
Anyway, I would watch Nick at Nite. A popular and repeatedly running show was Roseanne. On one episode, the older daughters told their younger brother that he was an "accident" and that his parents hadn't really wanted him to be born. The conversation goes like this:
D.J.: Was I an accident?
Roseanne: No, D.J., you were a surprise.
D.J.: Oh. What's the difference?
Roseanne: Well, an accident is something that you wouldn't do over again if you had the chance. A surprise is something you didn't even know you wanted until you got it.
Roseanne: No, D.J., you were a surprise.
D.J.: Oh. What's the difference?
Roseanne: Well, an accident is something that you wouldn't do over again if you had the chance. A surprise is something you didn't even know you wanted until you got it.
Our surprise was Willie James who turned 2 years old yesterday. When I first found out I was pregnant with Will, I was so scared. Maggie had just turned a year and I was so worried about how I was going to handle a 19 month old and an infant, was I ruining Maggie's life by bringing another baby into the house so soon? What were our families going to say? I was excited about the pregancy, what a blessign, but having told some folks already and gotten mixed reactions, I felt the pregnancy was something I was keeping to myself for a while longer. I was probably about four months along when I went to book club one night knowing I was going to announce my pregnancy. We hadn't been together for a while and we were all catching up on what was new in each other's lives and finally it was my turn - I said, with some hesitation, "Well, I'm going to have another baby!"
My dear friend, Michelle, jumped out of her chair, squealing with delight, giving me the hugest hug ever, and gushed all over me. Everyone else expressed their happiness for me as well, and all was good. Michelle's reaction to my announcement lifted the pressures and fears I was feeling instantly. I will never be able to thank her enough for that reaction. It was exactly what I needed, and I know that God planned for me to be there to witness that to reinforce to me that everything was GOOD and exactly as He had planned. I will never be able to thank Michelle enough for her reaction. It reinforced to me that my pregnancy was a very good thing and that we had been triply blessed.
I think about that a lot when I think of Willie James. He turned two years old yesterday and he is such an amazing blessing in our lives. I had worried so much about how Maggie would deal with a sibling so close in age to her - and it has never been an issue. Sure, once in a while we have instances of sibling rivalry, but so do Maggie & Walker and Walker and Will - it doesn't seem to have much to do with age.
In a phone conversation once with my sister, Erin, she said something along the lines of that she thought it was wonderful that my children were so close in age because sometimes she felt the age differences between us (about 3 years between each sister) was too great and there were times that she wished we were all closer in age. I don't think Erin will ever know how much that conversation meant to me either. And the times when the kids are tearing me in a million different directions, each one needing something from me, I think to that conversation and try to think to the future and how nice it will be for them to be experiencing life together.
But for the today, I celebrate the life of my littlest man. My candy loving, rough necking, bull headed boy.
Happy Birthday, my littlest love. May your life be filled with as many happy "surprises" as you have provided for me!
I'm an avid reader
Recently on a trip to my hometown, my sister, Katie, was recalling a story that she had told her mother in law that highlighted one of our many differences as sisters.
I found this book extremely engaging and had to force myself to put it down at night in order to go to sleep. I do believe I would have read the entire book at once if I didn't have responsibilities to face in the morning. As a daughter and a mother, I found this book tearing at my heartstrings throughout. The title of this book is genius as it truly describes the main theme of the story. Unfortunately, as is highlighted by the stories within the book, while there can be countless good memories one experiences in life, it seems that it takes just one very bad memory to overtake the good, eating one up and causing one to lose sight of all the good things worth remembering. I was reminded time and again how one's perception of a situation is not the entire story and that each person involved in an experience has a different reality of that experience. The story highlights the importance of open communication and honesty but most of all, it is about forgiveness. Forgiving oneself, forgiving others, and most importantly, the forgiveness of our Father. Things Worth Remembering has given me a lot to think about in terms of my relationship with my own mother and how I want to proceed with my relationship with my daughter.
To provide some background on our reading differences, I have always been an avid reader, my sister, Katie, not so much. Katie has deep rooted resentful memories of our mother encouraging her to read more, often wording her request in the worst way possible, "Why don't you read more like Jennie?" Katie is a relatively even-keeled person. It really takes a lot to get her upset, but for some reason, the comparison of our reading preferences is pretty much the one thing that she hated.
So Katie told this story about how when we were young, to do any "real" clothes shopping, we
had to travel to Dubois, a town about 30 miles away from our little hometown. If we were
"good girls," meaning, if we stayed close to our mom, allowed her to do the shopping she needed to do, and we didn't fight constantly we would be allowed one of two rewards. One was a trip to the Valley Dairy to get an ice cream cone - the other was a trip to Walden's Books to choose a book.
Both were of equal excitement to me. Not Katie. She would just rather have the ice cream. From start to finish, she would inject
subliminal messages into the conversation so we would be thinking about the Valley Dairy by the time the shopping trip was over.
"I'm so hungry for ice cream."
"Yum, won't a scoop of Chocolate Marshmallow taste so good when we are done?"
By the end of the trip, we truly did believe that ice cream was the better choice. Except every so often I would remember that having a good book would last a little longer than the ice cream. I would divert her attempts by asking if I could go to the bookstore by myself before my mom had finished shopping. I would say, "You can come get me at the bookstore when you're all
done." This would ensure my mom and sisters would have to be at the bookstore where my mom would then say, "Did you find something you want? Well, let's see if the other girls can find a book too."
Mission accomplished!
So, we would get our books - most likely mine was a
Nancy Drew that I didn't already have or a Sweet Valley High.
I loved those books.
The funny part of the whole reward was that I was such an avid reader that I often started to read the book in the car on
the way home and would get halfway through the book by the time we got home. I would quickly complete the book within a day and then I would complain that I didn't have anything to read again. My mother would say we had just been to the bookstore and then would yell at me saying, "You read your books too fast! If you keep reading that fast, I'm not buying you any more books!" Katie relayed that portion of the story to her mother in law, and we all found great humor in the fact that my mother was basically saying I was such a good reader, she was going to take books away from me to punish me.
I tell you that story to highlight that I continue to be an avid reader. I've rediscovered my passion that is the Library and I've been borrowing books like mad. This satisfies my need to read and my need to be frugal. In my attempts to keep up my habit and still save money, I found a program through Bethany House Publishing. Basically, you sign up through www.bethanyhouse.com/bookreviewers and as long as you are willing to read the books in a timely manner, and offer reviews on retail websites, you can participate in the program. Due to shipping reasons, the program is limited to North American residents only.
Here is what the email sent to me said:
Hi! Welcome to the latest Bethany House Book Reviewers Update. In this list, we've got our lineup of Fall contemporary fiction for review. Aside from another powerful emotional drama from Kathryn Cushman (attention Karen Kingsbury readers -- you really should be reading Cushman), we have second novels from a couple of our newer authors -- Christa Parrish and Jackina Stark. Also, if you missed it the first time around, Dale Cramer's Christy Award-winning Levi's Will is back in print with a new cover.
As usual, to request a review copy, just click the link under each book's description and we'll have a copy sent out to you. Post a review on your website and on a retailer's site (Amazon, ChristianBook.com, etc.), and email me at jim.hart@bethanyhouse.com to let us know about it! Thanks, and I hope you enjoy the new releases!
Note: We can only send books to reviewers the US and Canada. Requests will be accepted through October 5. Also - Help spread the word about this program! If you know anyone who would be interested in signing up to receive review copies of our books, direct them to www.bethanyhouse.com/bookreviewers!
I signed up and got my first "assignment" a few weeks ago. Then last Friday, four books came for me in the mail!
The first book I read was:
Watch Over Me by Christa Parrish
Her Rescue Might Be the Miracle They Needed
Deputy Benjamin Patil is the one to find the infant girl--hours old, abandoned in a field. When the mother can't be located, Ben and his wife, Abbi, seem like the perfect couple to serve as foster parents. But the baby's arrival opens old wounds for Abbi and shines a harsh light on how much Ben has changed since a devastating tour in Iraq. As their marriage teeters on the brink, they now must choose to either reclaim what they once had or lose each other forever.
While I found this book engaging, the main story of Abbi and Ben Patil didn't seem to captivate me as much as the sub- story of Matthew, an 18 year old high school senior who is befriended by the Patil's. Matthew lives with his Aunt and cousins, having been basically abandoned by his mother. He not only shoulders much of the responsibility in his Aunt's home, but he also is faced with the fact
that he has a genetic disorder that has rendered him deaf and with kidney failure. His Aunt tries to do her best, but she has fallen into the societal traps of low income families. She allows her older daughters and her nephew to be the childcare providers for her two youngest daughters. Her relationships with men are easy and fast and have a great impact on the children living in the house. Matthew lives with the knowledge that the only thing keeping him at his Aunt's house is the $500 a month she receives to provide for his care. Despite the worst imaginable childhood, Matthew manages to look at each day with hope and faith and trust in the Lord. His noble attempts at keeping his "family" together while struggling with "doing the right thing" I felt were the best aspects of the book. But then, perhaps, due to my former career history, I am a sucker for a kid that in the face of adversity manages to rise above it all and be the better person.
The second book I read was:
Things Worth Remembering by Jackina Stark
An Emotionally Gripping Story of Broken Relationships Restored
Kendy Laswell and her daughter, Maisey, used to do everything together--until one fateful summer when Maisey witnessed something she shouldn't have, and their relationship fractured. Now, Maisey is back home to get married and Kendy realizes this is her last chance to reconnect with her daughter. Will Kendy and Maisey be able to reclaim the bond they once shared?
I have two more books to finish and then I'll post those reviews too! I encourage you all to become bethanyhouse reviewers! It is a lot of fun!
Things are changing
Walking home from the bus stop last week, I noticed that leaves are starting to change color. This red was vivid against the green of the leaves. As much as I don't want to admit it, Summer is over and it is time for Fall to creep in and color our world in preparation for the Winter months. I cherish Fall because I know that it is our last hurrah of any color before the bland gray and brown, mud covered world we will experience for a good 4 or 5 months. I've heard various predictions about the winter - as usual, I'm hoping for a steady stream of snow - about one inch daily to keep my husband busy and our business steady.
Other things around the farm are changing too. Animals are coming and they are going. We've experienced a tremendous sale season this year. All of our goat kids born on the farm this year have been sold. We've even found some regular customers looking for farm fresh meats - chickens, ducks, goats, etc. Erik has been keeping busy attending various auctions at night trying to keep up our supply! Here is one of our old mama hens. She's got a slew of eggs under her that she is protecting. A few months ago, another hen hatched out 5 eggs and she kept them safe and we recently sold them to a new family who will raise them and eat their eggs! That's cool! She is fiercely protecting her eggs from the new Silkie chickens Erik bought at the auction last week. These silkies are very soft and fluffy. They are Maggies birds.
Another change here on the farm is the addition of "Sniffy." That is his unofficial name. Sniffy is a 10 month old Alpaca that Erik got "for a steal" at the auction. We're not sure if he is going to become a permanent part of our farm, but he is definitely something new. Rest assured, if he stays, I'm changing his name. Oh- and he got his name because by nature, Alpacas are curious and sniff at anything that comes across their path. Everytime Walker goes into the barn with him, Sniffy puts his nose in his face and sniffs away. If he was a girl, I think Gertrude would be a front runner for the new name, but for now, I'll have to think about a good boy name. Our general rule is that we only name animals names we wouldn't name our kids. 
Here's another shot of Maggie's silkie chickens. The white ones are really pretty. 
This poor Mama goat is depressed. Her baby was one of the last to be sold and ever since, she has not been eating well and she spends her day roaming the pasture, bleating for her baby to come to her. She is the wildest and meanest goat we have, but she sure is a good mama! Her unofficial name is "Crazy Mexican" because she is a mexican/spanish cross breed. 
Erik picked up these unusual ducks at auction last week. Unfortunately, they have already departed the premises - they are probably now tucked away in some lucky families freezer. I know many people will find that unappealing - but that is our business. The majority of the animals on our farm are here for a specific purpose. Either they are to breed, to eat, or to sell for someone else to do one of those things. We don't oppose having barnyard animals as pets - they just don't seem to work out as pets at our house. Probably because we have so many dogs and cats already. 
Here is a picture of our number one crop here at Goodness Grows Farm . . . Poison Ivy. We have poison ivy everywhere! To say it is prolific is an understatement. I only wish we could somehow turn this noxious plant into a profitable crop. I believe that the US military has underestimated the potential of this plant as a biohazard. Erik is severely allergic to the stuff - basically if he looks at it he breaks out in oozing sores. He recently had a horrible reaction to it. I don't feel too sorry for him though because for the most part, he avoids it. The #1 way he gets poison ivy is by handling the goats (who, if you've read this blog before, LOVE poison ivy and eat it like candy) or by playing with the dogs. Two Sundays ago, he was playing with the dogs, batting at them and rolling with them in the grass. Monday he woke up with huge welts and they swiftly turned into extremely annoying and itchy sores. My reasoning for this plant being underestimated is that not only does the allergy affect an individual, but it also affects anyone sharing sleeping quarters with this individual. All night long, I hear Erik scratching. We've had the air conditioning on in our room for over a week now because we have to keep it so cold in our room so Erik doesn't get overheated and itchy. Not that I mind the air - it's just funny that we are running the air conditioning more now than we did all summer.
Here's our barn. Can you tell we keep the doors slid open to the right and the left most of the time? My goal is to someday paint it a deep, traditional barn red. I'm just afraid of how much paint it will require.
Here's Willie James - he climbed into the dog kennel with Hank/Roscoe. He looks up to something.
Basically Will's philosophy is that if he bothers Hank enough, Hank will become his BFF. I believe Hank perceives this treatment as torture.
Finally - the changes that matter the most . . . our outdoor living space. We finally got our fire pit area set up. Erik used this stone that he salvaged from a wall in Fox Chapel that was built over 150 years ago but was falling down. The owners wanted a new "modern" retaining wall, so he hauled all the rock here in anticipation of what we could do with it. We decided to use it as our fire ring because the wall had been mortared with cement at some point and we could not break off all the mortar. Erik is especially proud of his "stick rests." He's placed four rocks on top of the ring so that when we have a campfire, we can rest our sticks on those rocks and use them to turn the sticks without the stick touching the actual burning logs. I have to admit it works really well. That man o mine has some smart ideas!
Erik also leveled out the back and side of our house to create two levels of living space. The bottom level is our dining area - we'll have tables to one side and the fire pit at the other. On the top level, just above this beautiful stone retaining wall, is another flat area that leads to our hot tub deck. We plan on putting sod down on this flat part and using it for our lounge chairs that we purchased three years ago on clearance at Sams club. They are your typical community pool lounges - perfect for our lifestyle here at the farm. Someday when we don't have so much mud, dirt and manure, we'll have "nice" things. The wooded furniture at the fire pit, I bought at an estate auction two years ago. We've had it stored for these past two years because we didn't have a place to put them so Erik didn't have to mow around them. Now we do. I have a whopping $30 invested in those pieces so far. They cost me $15 (and it may have been less than that) and I had to spend another $15 on chains and S hooks for the gliders. Next year, I'll restain all of the furniture and strip and stain the wooden picnic tables we have. But that's a project for next summer!
Saturday, we managed to get the hot tub deck framed out with the help from our neighbor, Keith. He graciously came up to help bang that out for us so we could get that job done. It is surprising to me that Erik can tear apart and put back together, or build, he is so hesitant to start a construction project involving framing. Once something is framed, he can do anything, but the framing just isn't his thing. 
This is Maggie after I told her I thought her she stepped in manure because I thought her boots smelled. I believe this expression is, "What you talkin' 'bout, Momma?"
In an effort to prove me wrong, she displays the bottoms of her boots. I do believe that is a little bit of an "I told you so" tongue she is sticking out at me! 
Will and Walker had a great deal of fun helping us get the decking on the frame. We used an air gun to blow in the nails, but the boys were in charge of hammering in any nails that didn't go in the whole way. Which to them was all of the nails. Will, at this point, has stolen his sisters hat. He doesn't care what color it is. It's just a hat to him and one he absolutely had to wear to torture his sister. Will is into torturing his sister. A lot. And there's not much I can do to help her because I don't even know that what he is doing is torture until she starts whining and screaming. Will looks out the window . . .
Maggie: "Momma! Will is looking out the window and I don't want him to."
Me: "Maggie, you don't own the outside and Will is allowed to look outside if he wants to."
Maggie: "Well, I don't want him to. He's not awowed!"
Me: "Ok, Maggie. Whatever you say."
Hello. My name is Will and I am a weapon of mass destruction and extreme torture.
Hello. My name is Will and I am a weapon of mass destruction and extreme torture. Be afraid. Be very afraid.
This is my favorite picture of the weekend. All three children wanted to help Erik hold boards while he was cutting them so this is the compromise.
My farm girl. She is such a princess but she will do whatever is necessary on the farm. She doesn't mind getting her hands dirty as long as she can still get her fingernails painted.
A celebration with popsicles after we finish nailing down all of the decking.
The hot-tub that all of this outdoor living space was created for! It will still be a while before it is up and running but we can't wait for it. It will be such a great treat in the winter time.
It was a hard day so the kids had to take a break after all that hard work.
This is my favorite picture of the weekend. All three children wanted to help Erik hold boards while he was cutting them so this is the compromise.My farm girl. She is such a princess but she will do whatever is necessary on the farm. She doesn't mind getting her hands dirty as long as she can still get her fingernails painted.A celebration with popsicles after we finish nailing down all of the decking.The hot-tub that all of this outdoor living space was created for! It will still be a while before it is up and running but we can't wait for it. It will be such a great treat in the winter time.It was a hard day so the kids had to take a break after all that hard work. Lunch on the patio.
What could be better?
Well, maybe having the hot tub running. Someday . . .
Well, maybe having the hot tub running. Someday . . .Someday!
Happy Birthday, Katie!
Today is my sister Katie's birthday.
Kate and I have had our ups and downs over our lives as sisters, but it has made us stronger as individuals and has made us better sisters.
This picture is circa 1992 maybe? It was probably one of the last times we went to Florida together - just us four girls with our grandparents. This is a cropped version of Katie with our Papa. Those trips to Florida, although at the time were probably pretty tense and not as much fun as they could have been - I was a tad bossy and very intent on getting the most out of our trip to Disney World so I may have over done it a little. I remember the four of us lying on our bellies on the floor of the hotel room at the Grand Floridian and looking at the park maps, each of us saying what we wanted to see the most (and me vetoing a lot of it I'm sure) so we could have a game plan for our brief stay at the park.
This picture was taken by the valet at the Grand Floridian - at the time they had a beautiful vintage carriage sitting out front so we climbed inside and had the valet take our picture. This is one of my favorite pictures of all time. My most cherished memories of my sisters is when we were with Grammie & Papa in Florida. They would make special arrangements for us to stay on the Concierge floor at the Grand Floridian because one time, while at some sort of seminar, my Papa stayed there and at 4:00 daily at the Grand Floridian, they had tea time on the Concierge floor. This meant a wide variety of English tea and scones, juices, milk and the dinner plate sized chocolate chip cookies. My Papa, who always thought about us, knew we would be "tickled" to go to Disney World and have that experience. And we were. I don't know if the cookies really were that delicious or if their general size and the fact that our Papa specifically took us there to show us those cookies was what made them so good, but I remember out last tea time, we tried wrapping some cookies up in napkins to take home with us to show our mom, but, as they are apt to do, the cookies crumbled and they didn't last. 
So, my grandparents did a lot of stuff like that for us girls as we were growing up. I think all of us girls have so many special memories of the kindness and generosity they showed us. We have all been shaped so much by them. I was always the prim, proper, oldest, responsible grand daughter. I was very close to my Grammie and would go to her with all of my sibling woes. And boy did my outgoing, spontaneous, creative and humorous sister, Katie, give me a lot of woes. Boy did we fight a lot as kids. I know my mom seriously thought we would never end up being friends. But, you know what? I grew up, went to college at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, and three years later, Katie started her Freshman year at Pitt. Our relationship changed a lot then. I was always a caretaker, but this time it was different. Instead of it being me and her against each other, it was me and her against the city. Two small town girls braving life in what we considered to be a pretty big place. Pitt is way bigger than Duquesne, and I developed a protective relationship with Katie. I helped her find her way a little around campus, got her and her friend from home drunk a little bit at my apartment (on wine coolers - we were hard asses!) and I even helped her with an English term paper. What started out as a little bit of help turned into me rewriting her whole paper. Which, I proudly will add, earned her an A on the paper - I think the comments by the instructor were something along the lines of "excellent edit - A!" After that semester, Katie transferred to a different University and took up Interior Design. She truly found her calling in this profession. She now has her own design business and has even done a television spot for the local news redesigning a room on a budget!
Kate's not going to be happy about these pictures, but they are the only ones I have of her on hand. Katie and I have a relationship that I guess you could relate to the flow of the tide. We ebb and flow - sometimes we are super close, sometimes we are close at heart but for one reason or another we drift in our day to day contact. There's so much I admire about Kate, but I'm not sure if I ever come right out and tell her. Our conversations usually drift towards how our children are doing, our other sisters, extended family and life in general. Plus, we're not really the kind of family that says outright the things we admire and love most about each other. We'd rather throw out a sarcastic barb to try to make people laugh.
Sometimes it is hard for me to understand Katie. She is definitely way opposite of my personality. She is a people pleaser - very much like my mom - and even though at first glance you would think I am a people pleaser, it turns out that I very much get my way when I want it. I have just learned what battles are worth fighting and which ones I can afford to let go. There are times I very much wish I was more apt to please. Sometimes I worry that Katie is such a pleaser that it almost becomes a flaw. I get upset for her because I think that she needs to stick up for herself - I think that she gets taken advantage of - but that is just Katie's way. Katie also has such a gentle way with her children. I admire that so much in her. Not that I'm not gentle and loving, she just has a different way about her. My kids adore their "Aunt Didi" and never pass up an opportunity to sit on her lap or steal a cuddle from her. I guess it has to do with the fact that she is the most forgiving person I know. She's definitely a "turn the other cheek" kind of gal. I am the "woman scorned" kind of gal. She's forgive and forget, I'm forgive but I never forget.
Katie has and always will be the life of the party. She's so funny - always has been and always will be. She can make me laugh like no one I know. There have been many of times that I have spit out food or drink because of something she said because it was either spit or choke. Katie was the kid, that when we were little, would try anything. My Uncle's would offer her a dollar to try a hot pepper, or eat raw onion, or something else gross. And she would do it and collect the dollar. I always sat on the sidelines, wishing I was brave enough to do things like that, but knew deep down that I never could. Katie is famous for the impressions she did as a child. Her most famous is probably the Incredible Hulk. My Uncles would always ask her to do the Hulk. She was always so witty also - still is. A memory from childhood that I recall clearly is one time at my Grammie's house, my Uncle David came in and said to Katie, "how about a hug for your favorite Uncle?" and she dead panned, "I would, but Uncle Mike isn't here!" If I was to be honest, I would say that I have always felt a competitive jealousy with Katie - mostly because she is so well liked. There's something about Katie that everyone likes. She's sweeter than me, kinder than me, more open than me. I know sisters aren't supposed to be jealous of each other - and I can guarantee you that Katie has probably never felt that way about me. And when we were younger, I suppose out of adolescent retaliation, I did not treat Katie the way I should have, and for that I'm deeply sorry. At the time, the three years difference in our ages just seemed too much to overcome. I deeply regret not being better friends in our childhood and adolescent years.
This is the most recent picture I have of Katie. This was at the birthday party she planned for our girls. No one else I know can come up with a theme and pull of the decorations and activities so well. She is a gifted decorator and party planner! She planned a little cupcake party for her little cupcake, Olivia.
Kate's not going to be happy about these pictures, but they are the only ones I have of her on hand. Katie and I have a relationship that I guess you could relate to the flow of the tide. We ebb and flow - sometimes we are super close, sometimes we are close at heart but for one reason or another we drift in our day to day contact. There's so much I admire about Kate, but I'm not sure if I ever come right out and tell her. Our conversations usually drift towards how our children are doing, our other sisters, extended family and life in general. Plus, we're not really the kind of family that says outright the things we admire and love most about each other. We'd rather throw out a sarcastic barb to try to make people laugh. Sometimes it is hard for me to understand Katie. She is definitely way opposite of my personality. She is a people pleaser - very much like my mom - and even though at first glance you would think I am a people pleaser, it turns out that I very much get my way when I want it. I have just learned what battles are worth fighting and which ones I can afford to let go. There are times I very much wish I was more apt to please. Sometimes I worry that Katie is such a pleaser that it almost becomes a flaw. I get upset for her because I think that she needs to stick up for herself - I think that she gets taken advantage of - but that is just Katie's way. Katie also has such a gentle way with her children. I admire that so much in her. Not that I'm not gentle and loving, she just has a different way about her. My kids adore their "Aunt Didi" and never pass up an opportunity to sit on her lap or steal a cuddle from her. I guess it has to do with the fact that she is the most forgiving person I know. She's definitely a "turn the other cheek" kind of gal. I am the "woman scorned" kind of gal. She's forgive and forget, I'm forgive but I never forget. Katie has and always will be the life of the party. She's so funny - always has been and always will be. She can make me laugh like no one I know. There have been many of times that I have spit out food or drink because of something she said because it was either spit or choke. Katie was the kid, that when we were little, would try anything. My Uncle's would offer her a dollar to try a hot pepper, or eat raw onion, or something else gross. And she would do it and collect the dollar. I always sat on the sidelines, wishing I was brave enough to do things like that, but knew deep down that I never could. Katie is famous for the impressions she did as a child. Her most famous is probably the Incredible Hulk. My Uncles would always ask her to do the Hulk. She was always so witty also - still is. A memory from childhood that I recall clearly is one time at my Grammie's house, my Uncle David came in and said to Katie, "how about a hug for your favorite Uncle?" and she dead panned, "I would, but Uncle Mike isn't here!" If I was to be honest, I would say that I have always felt a competitive jealousy with Katie - mostly because she is so well liked. There's something about Katie that everyone likes. She's sweeter than me, kinder than me, more open than me. I know sisters aren't supposed to be jealous of each other - and I can guarantee you that Katie has probably never felt that way about me. And when we were younger, I suppose out of adolescent retaliation, I did not treat Katie the way I should have, and for that I'm deeply sorry. At the time, the three years difference in our ages just seemed too much to overcome. I deeply regret not being better friends in our childhood and adolescent years. This is the most recent picture I have of Katie. This was at the birthday party she planned for our girls. No one else I know can come up with a theme and pull of the decorations and activities so well. She is a gifted decorator and party planner! She planned a little cupcake party for her little cupcake, Olivia. Kate had to do the bravest thing ever this August. She had to send her firstborn, Christopher, to full day Kindergarten. I honestly don't know how she did it! Walker is only going half a day and it tears me apart.
My salute today is to my sister, Katie. It is because of her (and our younger two sisters) that I desire to give Maggie a sister. I'm not sure if that will happen, but I cannot imagine going through my life without the beautiful relationships I have with my sisters. I feel true sad for people without sisters! Yes, we have our ups and downs and ins and outs, but through thick and thin, we are blood and we are there for each other. We don't always see eye to eye, but we have learned to agree to disagree. We shake things off now, that would have strained our friendships in the past. We have found a new respect and love for each other based on our family history and who we've become as independent women. And we love each other deeply.
I found this quote a while back, when my sisters and I were dealing with some issues within our family. It really struck a chord in me because it was so true.
To the outside world we all grow old. But not to brothers and sisters. We know each other as we always were. We know each other's hearts. We share private family jokes. We remember family feuds and secrets, family griefs and joys. We live outside the touch of time. ~Clara Ortega
It's funny, because I see myself getting older, but when I look at my sisters, I still see those little girls I bossed around as we played "Little House on the Prairie." The laughter and love that we shared and the promise of the memories we have yet to make.
Love to you, Katie, on your birthday. I hope it was everything you wished for!
Random moments
I haven't been keeping up to date too well, but while browsing through my photo files today I thought I'd just post a bunch of pictures and tell you about the moment. Basically, the summer in review!
Swimming at Armco Park in Slippery Rock on one of the few nice days this summer.
The kids wait on the side of the pool until adult swim is over.
Will was such a little fish this summer. I'd love to put him in swimming lessons but he's not old enough yet!
The sad reality of what happens to little boys when they don't make boy dress up shoes.
Will at a parade sucking on his lollipops.
Nana plays bowling on the Wii
Chris's 5th birthday party.
Will eats at the birthday party.
The friends and family at Chris's birthday
This was just after the wind blew out Chris's birthday candles before he got to!
More family!
Will tried so hard to hit the pinata at the birthday party but he couldn't reach. Heaven forbid I try to help him though - he screamed and cried when I tried lifting him up so he could actually hit the pinata.
Waker takes a turn.
Katie made this adorable carousel cake for Chris's birthday. unfortunately, the heat made the colors of the candy on the cake.
Walker makes headlines again
I was going through photos tonight, organizing the month of August into a folder, when I came across this picture.
Erik casually commented, "You should send that into The Boer Goat Magazine."So I did. Here is what I wrote.
Dear Editor,
Below is a photo I took of my son, Walker, age 5, as he reclined in his dad's chair and enjoyed the latest issue of The Boer Goat magazine (just like his dad d
oes every time he receives a new issue in the mail). Although Walker doesn't know how to read just yet, he sure did a good job of studying the pictures accompanying the articles and advertisements. In fact, he'll be using photos clipped from your magazine for his "All About Me" project for his first day of Kindergarten on September 8.
We appreciate the quality of The Boer Goat magazine and look forward to receiving each new issue.
Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Jennifer R. Schwalm
Imagine my surprise when I almost immediately got this response:
Your son is adorable! (Don't tell him. I know boys hate that.) I don't know whether to put Walker's photo in "Kid Corner" or in "Letters to the editor" but you can count on seeing it in one place or the other!
Thanks for writing and a special thanks for your praise. I usually don't hear from the readers until I do something wrong.
Billye Viner
If you'll send me your address, I'll send you an "uncut" copy.
Now I know none of you get "The Boer Goat Magazine" but as a goat farmer, trust me, there is no greater honor!
Walker's going to flip. Now he'll have something cool to show at "show and tell."
Walker, if you are older and reading this, be thankful I was running behind that day. If I had not been running late, you wouldn't have gotten exasperated with me, sat down in Daddy's chair and picked up the magazine to keep busy. Then I wouldn't have seen you, gotten
emotional seeing you sit in the chair like your dad and I wouldn't have run to get the camera and take your picture. Then I wouldn't have had a picture to submit to "The Boer Goat"
magazine and none of this would have happened. So there - don't be mad at me when I'm running late!
Thanks to Billye Viner for being so nice and putting Walker in the magazine.
And if you think I'm avoiding the fact that this little monster will be starting Kindergarten in 4 days, you're right. We're not talking about that right now. In fact, Walker and I have made a deal. He is convinced that he is going to be bored at Kindergarten and he is angry that he will not have time to play with his sister because, (Please read the following and insert giant sobs, blubbering words, and sniffles. Oh, a few hiccups would make the effect more realistic also). "She will be in preschool in the mornings" (two days a week), "and I will be at school after lunch. We will not have time to play with each other!"
Sob, sob, hold breath, hiccup, wail.
Oh, sorry. That's not me describing Walker's conversation with me anymore. That's me imagining my baby getting on the big school bus and going to school.
Allright. Enough. I'm headed to the firesafe to look for Walker's birth certificate. I think I have the date wrong. It is not possible for this baby to be old enough to go to Kindergarten yet. He can't be 5. I think they recorded his birth year wrong. They must have because I'm sure five years have not passed so quickly. If five years went this fast - how fast will the next 12 go?
That's it. Maggie & Will are not allowed to grow up. Do you hear me Maggie & Will? I forbid you from getting older! You will not go to Kindergarten. You will stay little and live here forever! END OF DISCUSSION! YOU WILL NOT END UP LIKE YOUR BROTHER - going to school like a big boy. Who does he think he is anyway? A big kid now? Well, I got news for him. No matter where you go, no matter what you do, Timothy Walker Schwalm, you will always be my baby!
Maggie's first day of 2 day preschool
Today was Maggie's first day of Preschool!
We started off with the breakfast of her choice. Chocolate pannycakies.
Look at those hoodlums. What a trio. Can you tell we were out later than we planned doing corn at Travis & Julia's? We were only 1/2 an hour off, but Maggie was really the only one happy to be awake!
This girl loves her chocolate pancakes (chocolate chip pancakes to the rest of the world).Here is Maggie's back pack. She got this last year for Christmas and decided she didn't need a new one. Part of me is glad to have saved the $10 but part of me feels like she should have gotten a new one. For what? I don't know. It just must be that "mom guilt".
She did get to pick out a lunch box even though she really didn't need one. Ok, I've absolved myself of the mom guilt - she got an unnecessary lunch box. Her world is complete with princesses and tinker bell. On a side note: we were at Kmart on Sunday and Will pointed to an outfit and kept saying "bell, bell" - I looked up and it was a Tinkerbell outfit. He's so smart!
Here's my angel all dressed and ready for school. I stayed up last night and made her new korker hair bows. She didn't want her hair pulled back - just one barrette off to the side. I can't believe how long her hair has gotten since last year! She's getting so big.
Walker wouldn't pose with them today. He was a little jealous of the fact that Maggie was going to school before him. He doesn't start until next Tuesday and even though we were headed to His School after we dropped Maggie off for HIS orientation, he was still being a bugger and refused to take a group picture. Next week will be an entirely different story though when we have HIS first day of Kindergarten! Look at that Willie J posing with his big sis! What a cutie. He absolutely loves those crocs even though they are purple and are Maggie's - he thinks they are his and they are doggies so he loves them. Who cares? I'm happy he has a pair of shoes he can put on all by himself!
Now Maggie gets to pose alone. Nana got Maggie this outfit at Old Navy on Sunday. She has been so excited to wear it. I found her the peep toe shoes at Walmart and she's even wearing new panties. I had to get her some school panties b/c so many of her panties are stained - not from accidents - but from falling in or playing in the mud and dirt here at the farm. I never thought to pre-treat them for stains until I realized how many of her panties were stained and dirty and thought about a teacher seeing them. So, we bought a brand new package of Tinkerbell panties too. Phew! Now at least if she has an accident at school, she'll have had clean panties.
Willie had to get out his lunch box just in case.
Maggie showing off her back pack again.
If you can imagine it, we were late getting to school. As I was ready to pack up to leave, Walker all of a sudden decides HE is ready to have is picture taken. I try to calmly explain that "we do not have time for individual pictures. If you wanted a picture today, you should have taken one with your sister on her first day of school like you did with her on YOUR first day of school! Now GET IN THE CAR!"
Willie had to get out his lunch box just in case.Maggie showing off her back pack again.
If you can imagine it, we were late getting to school. As I was ready to pack up to leave, Walker all of a sudden decides HE is ready to have is picture taken. I try to calmly explain that "we do not have time for individual pictures. If you wanted a picture today, you should have taken one with your sister on her first day of school like you did with her on YOUR first day of school! Now GET IN THE CAR!" He was not happy about this and dragged his feet until I actually got in the car, put it in gear, and said, "See ya!" then he came running.
We got Maggie through the door a little bit late. That's why I like going back to places I'm familiar with - they know what to expect from us Schwalm's!
So we leave Maggie at preschool, rush home to meet Kevin & Jacob - I'm babysitting today, and get ready to go to the Primary Center where Walker will go to Kindergarten. While we were home for that 15 minutes, Walker manages to get stung by a yellow jacket. We unfortunately had a yellow jacket problem - it wasn't bad until it started getting so cold out, but Sunday night, they started coming in looking for warmth in the house! I called a guy yesterday and had it treated, but even though they are dying, they are somehow getting in the house. We have them in the laundry room and the dining and living rooms. Walker was innocently pushing his truck through the dining room and accidentally put his hand on one and got stung. He freaked out and then freaked out worse because the ice pack I gave him after I treated the sting was . . . wait for it . . .
TOO COLD!
So I load up a 5 1/2 year old, a two year old and a one year old and rush over to Knoch listening to the 5 1/2 year old wailing like a banshee. We get to the turn at the school and I say, "We are almost there" and the tears and wailing instantly stop. We get unloaded and go right into the school. Walker's room is the first one on the right and Mrs. Minner was waiting for all of us to arrive. She led Walker right to a little desk, gave a small speech about the school year, told us what she needed us to do and have for the year and then the kids got to look for their cubby and explore the room. We then headed out to the front of the school so the kids could take a bus
ride to get some experience with the school bus. That was pretty wrenching for me. Walker climbed up the steps to that big bus with no fear and got right on - I could see him walk down the aisle, choose a seat and slide over to the window to look for me. He had a small moment of panic when he couldn't see me right away, but then I waved and he smiled that toothless grin back, and all was OK. They went off on their ride, came back and unloaded and our orientation was over. One hour of complete calm, happy, NORMAL, Walker.
We load up again, pull out of the parking lot and all of a sudden, "WAHHHH!!" Walker's finger started to hurt again. We had some time to kill before picking up Maggie, so we stopped at the grocery store and picked up some popsicles and milk and then went to pick her up. The crying and wailing commenced yet again. And again, the ice bag was too cold.
Once at Maggie's school, I saw one of Walker's old preschool buddies, Kendyl. I said, "Hey, Walker, I see Kendyl. Want to get out and see her?" and the crying stopped and he came into the building with me. We waited patiently and soon we saw these little critters emerge from
their classroom, not quite understanding how to proceed in a straight line.
Maggie of course, hose nose Harriet, had to separate from the line so she could see out over everyone to make sure she knew what was going on! She was funny!
All the kids were so excited to see their mommies and/or daddies and all had smiling faces - no tear streaks were evident at all. It was a good day. Once home, Maggie told me she learned about the "letter song, sitting on the carpets, and kiss koss sauce." Which is "criss cross-applesauce" the new terminology for sitting "Indian style" or crossed legged on the floor.
Overall, she had a very fun day. I feel a little guilty because the day was not anything like it was Walker's first day of school. There was no moments of quiet and calm - we hurried through the morning and there was little time to anticipate how Maggie was doing at school while we waited for her at home. I suppose it was a good thing - it's inevitable when you have multiple children. I try to remind myself of the saying that "Fair" isn't that everybody gets the same thing but that everybody gets what they need - and Maggie did. She doesn't know that her first day of preschool was any different than Walker's first day of preschool - but I do. I guess I'm just going to have to get used to all the differences and realize ways to make the differences special. It's hard for me because I'm the one that wants to make these memories special for the kids, but I don't think they really will remember anything I did or didn't do. Who knows? I'm
sure in 10 years, I'll get an earful from their therapists.
Maggie got to pick what we eat tonight since it was her special first day of school and of course, she chose "Rabioli." Hopefully over supper we will all be able to sit down and talk about the day in a more calm manner, let the kids tell their stories and have some fun. I'm sure if I ever look back at this blog and read this entry, I will be shocked at what actually happened vs. what I remember happening.
Hopefully I'll never forget this:
What happens when a landscaper & a girl w/a family with in the construction business marries?
Erik is a landscaper and my mother's family has a retail home improvement store. You would think we have the perfect backgrounds to make something beautiful, wouldn't you? The problem is that both of us know how fleeting trends are, how the economy effects prices, and well, we both have our own ideas on how we want things and we don't always do such a good job of expressing ourselves. And let's face it - I'm cheap. I'm willing to wait for something to go on sale OR wait for a "knock-off" to be made so I can get it cheap.
When we first bought our home, there was a pantry off the kitchen. In this picture you see the original room. Outside the frame, there was a large grape arbor with grape vines that produced grapes until about August, then they would start to shrivel up even though they did not reach ripeness. The arbor was in our way, so Erik dozed it and we turned the flattened area into my "car port." Except it is just a parking space. I refuse to buy, build or create any type of car covering until I know it exactly what I want and whether I want it where I currently park my car. Since leveling the area, I managed to transplant many orange day lilies and get them to grow on the steep bank that leads from the yard to my parking space. If you should ever transport day lilies, a tip: the first year that I did the lilies, they looked dreadful! I thought they were dead and would never come back. The following summer, they grew in greener and thicker and produced gorgeous orange lilies. They are the perfect cover for that bank.
Back to the pantry: It was rather large, but at the time we could not see a use for such a large pantry. I do NOW, but at the time, it seemed more practical to convert the space to something useful. So we did! We added an exterior door, moved the window to the right, moved the propane tanks and turned the pantry into a laundry/mud/bathroom. It's really perfect because dirty farmers and farm children (and occasionally, the farmer's wife) can enter through this room, discard their filthy, dirty farm clothes, and take a shower their filthy, dirty bodies. Then the clothes don't have to travel anywhere except from the dirty body to the washing machine. It's PERFECT. Except now it is too small. That is a project I will address another day.
See how bad the weeds got! He actually dug this area out earlier this summer on a day when we thought we were going to have time to get the hot tub installed in June. Excellent topsoil and windy days make for BAD weeds!
We spent the day at the beach at Lake Moraine and this is what we came home to! My honey got done with his real work early and got started on our patio area!
You can't tell so well here, but we're starting off with three tiers. The first tier is going to actually be a wooden deck that the hot tub will sit on. The second tier will be for casual seating. The bottom tier will have a fire ring in the left foreground surrounded by casual seating (I'm hoping to start scoping auctions and yard sales for vintage metal porch furniture) and the left background parallel with the deck will be our outdoor dining room, so you can walk down the deck steps, down the stone step to the outdoor dining room. We need A LOT of space for outdoor dining when we have family and friends over.
Erik is so talented. These stones came from the back of our property where it was piled up - discards from actual work projects and treasures found around the farm. He hauled them to the house and laid them out and managed to get them into this nice little wall. Once everything is graded and set, we will plant HUGE pom-pom hydrangea around the deck to hide the openings. We cannot cover the openings because our dogs need that cool, damp, dark space to hide out in the summer.
I'm getting excited just imagining what the hydrangea will look like when it grows in!
As you can see, in front of my lily bed, Erik has created another stone wall, and part of that stone wall will be a set of stone steps leading from the parking space to the patio. We'll also put in a small stepping stone path to go from the back door to the steps. This will come in handy because around the perimeter of the patio, we have to add some practicality by putting up my clothesline. It will serve double duty because I can hang clothes and sheets during the day and at night, the clothesline will act as a lighting source with paper lanterns hung from the line. So neat!
Here are two of the flat stones we found for the steps. They aren't set yet - still waiting to be installed. I love that the boys cannot resist big piles of dirt and have all of their excavation and digging equipment out working with their daddy!
That far right corner of the dirt is where our fire ring is going to go.
Erik's going to work on this project all weekend. Hopefully we'll be hot-tubbin' by Labor Day! Woo Hoo!
Case in point: our home.
We have been renovating this space since we bought it. What started out as knocking down one measly wall turned into completely gutting our 140 year old farmhouse all the way down to the amazing balloon framing. Erik confidently gave me the reigns as I selected materials, designed rooms, and scraped plaster off the four original brick fireplaces. We chose what had to be done, got it done and left other things for later. Things that were not required for the immediate comfort and occupancy of the house. If you see something unfinished at my house, it doesn't really bother me because I know it will get done when I find exactly what I am looking for. I waited three years until I found the perfect vintage inspired chandelier light fixture for my bathroom. It was perfect and cheap.
One of the things left on the to do list has been the landscaping. You would think the first thing we would and could do was the landscaping. But we both agreed that our decisions had to be the right ones and we wanted to live with the place, see how we would use, how the children would use it, before we made our decisions.
It took us about three years to build a deck outside the dining room. We had beautiful French doors and they led to no where!
When we first bought our home, there was a pantry off the kitchen. In this picture you see the original room. Outside the frame, there was a large grape arbor with grape vines that produced grapes until about August, then they would start to shrivel up even though they did not reach ripeness. The arbor was in our way, so Erik dozed it and we turned the flattened area into my "car port." Except it is just a parking space. I refuse to buy, build or create any type of car covering until I know it exactly what I want and whether I want it where I currently park my car. Since leveling the area, I managed to transplant many orange day lilies and get them to grow on the steep bank that leads from the yard to my parking space. If you should ever transport day lilies, a tip: the first year that I did the lilies, they looked dreadful! I thought they were dead and would never come back. The following summer, they grew in greener and thicker and produced gorgeous orange lilies. They are the perfect cover for that bank.Back to the pantry: It was rather large, but at the time we could not see a use for such a large pantry. I do NOW, but at the time, it seemed more practical to convert the space to something useful. So we did! We added an exterior door, moved the window to the right, moved the propane tanks and turned the pantry into a laundry/mud/bathroom. It's really perfect because dirty farmers and farm children (and occasionally, the farmer's wife) can enter through this room, discard their filthy, dirty farm clothes, and take a shower their filthy, dirty bodies. Then the clothes don't have to travel anywhere except from the dirty body to the washing machine. It's PERFECT. Except now it is too small. That is a project I will address another day.Fast forward about 5 years. We added a nice big deck and steps down to the yard. The only problem was that the yard was slanted and not an easy place to entertain or play. Plus, we had built and landscaped an area on the other side of the house for the play ground. So we haven't been using the back of the house too much. Earlier this summer, we acquired a hot tub. Erik has been too busy to focus on any projects here, but now that things are slowing down a bit, he decided to start working on our back yard patio project. We came up with a plan we could both agree on and Erik is in the execution phase. Ideally, we want to do a stamped concrete surface for this patio, but since I cannot decide where I eventually want to put on the addition we are planning, we are not spending money on concrete that we may eventually dig up for a house addition. Instead, we are going to use pea gravel. It will not get as weedy as mulch, and we will have a semi-hard surface to put our outdoor furniture. And no one will have to deal with wet, grass covered feet!
And the boys will enjoy having yet another place to play with their "heavy equipment."
Erik started digging last night. These are the before pictures.
See how bad the weeds got! He actually dug this area out earlier this summer on a day when we thought we were going to have time to get the hot tub installed in June. Excellent topsoil and windy days make for BAD weeds!We spent the day at the beach at Lake Moraine and this is what we came home to! My honey got done with his real work early and got started on our patio area!You can't tell so well here, but we're starting off with three tiers. The first tier is going to actually be a wooden deck that the hot tub will sit on. The second tier will be for casual seating. The bottom tier will have a fire ring in the left foreground surrounded by casual seating (I'm hoping to start scoping auctions and yard sales for vintage metal porch furniture) and the left background parallel with the deck will be our outdoor dining room, so you can walk down the deck steps, down the stone step to the outdoor dining room. We need A LOT of space for outdoor dining when we have family and friends over.Erik is so talented. These stones came from the back of our property where it was piled up - discards from actual work projects and treasures found around the farm. He hauled them to the house and laid them out and managed to get them into this nice little wall. Once everything is graded and set, we will plant HUGE pom-pom hydrangea around the deck to hide the openings. We cannot cover the openings because our dogs need that cool, damp, dark space to hide out in the summer.I'm getting excited just imagining what the hydrangea will look like when it grows in! As you can see, in front of my lily bed, Erik has created another stone wall, and part of that stone wall will be a set of stone steps leading from the parking space to the patio. We'll also put in a small stepping stone path to go from the back door to the steps. This will come in handy because around the perimeter of the patio, we have to add some practicality by putting up my clothesline. It will serve double duty because I can hang clothes and sheets during the day and at night, the clothesline will act as a lighting source with paper lanterns hung from the line. So neat!Here are two of the flat stones we found for the steps. They aren't set yet - still waiting to be installed. I love that the boys cannot resist big piles of dirt and have all of their excavation and digging equipment out working with their daddy! That far right corner of the dirt is where our fire ring is going to go. Erik's going to work on this project all weekend. Hopefully we'll be hot-tubbin' by Labor Day! Woo Hoo!Nothing good can happen . . .
Death by Chocolate Zucchini Cake Muffins
Recipe can be found at www.tastykitchen.com
I'd like to revise that saying for the bakers out there and make this rule: "Nothing good tasting can happen if you're baking after 10:00 p.m."
We finished off the last of the 3 dozen chocolate zucchini cake muffins I made last week. This cake is so delicious. I have only had the cake two times in my life and it may possibly be my new favorite cake. The trouble is that it is very rich and my kids can't get enough of it (well, to be honest, neither can I). In fact, the last two muffins went missing courtesy of Willie James. He saw them on the counter, moved the step stool over to them and devoured them right there in the kitchen. I came out only to find a boy with a chocolatey grin and empty muffin wrappers. He grinned at me and said, "All don" - his version of "all gone."
So, hankering some muffins at 10:30 tonight, I ingeniously decided to make another batch. I even had to send Erik out to the barn in search of two eggs. (Eggs are a rarity on these parts right now. The old chickens are molting and the new chickens haven't started laying yet and those chickens that are still laying are hiding them in feed troughs, hay bales and other non obvious places.) I began whipping the muffins together and thought to myself: "Self, why don't you add some whole wheat flour to this recipe to see if you can healthen it up a little bit?" I realize "healthen" isn't really a word, but I was talking to myself, so what did it matter?
So, I zoomed through adding the ingredients and as I added the flour, I had that "AHHH!" moment when I realized as I just finished dumping the last scoop in that I had added almost ALL whole wheat stone ground flour instead of 1/4 whole wheat stone ground flour and 3/4 regular all purpose flour.
I had another strike against me anyway as instead of having a small box of chocolate pudding, I only had a large box of chocolate pudding. I figured - well, maybe the extra pudding will help even it out. It was not nearly as liquidy as the first batch I made, but I figure it would all work out.
I got the first batch out and I put the toothpick in, and it came out indicating it needed more time in the oven. I put the tin back in and licked the toothpick (Don't judge me, you know you all do it!") and it did NOT taste good! And by that I mean it did not taste chocolatey and gooey - it tasted like whole wheat stone ground flour.
So while those muffins finished cooking, I decided to doctor up the rest of the batch. I added some more cocoa and sugar and some extra chocolate chips. Then, I got the first batch of muffins out of the oven, re-lined and filled the muffin tin, and put the second batch in the oven. I then dusted a first batch muffin with powdered sugar and tasted it. And it was warm and chocolatey and gooey. Not quite the same as the original recipe, but almost as good. You know - the kind of good tasting when you know it is healthy but it also feels a little decadent.
So, I just got the second batch out of the oven - the batch that I doctored up. Hopefully I didn't ruin those ones! Ok, the suspense was killing me, so I went in and tried one from the second batch. You will be happy to know they are very good also. You can still detect the healthiness of the stone ground whole wheat flour, but the rich chocolate and moistness of the cake makes it feel very decadent.
The moral of the story - don't bake after 10:00 p.m. because you are likely tired, confused, and not paying attention well enough to follow the directions you make up in your head. You will make a mistake in your recipe and waste time and ingredients trying to doctor up your mistakes. Then you will worry about your mistakes and wonder how you can justify throwing out perfectly good muffins just because they don't taste like the original recipe. Then, you will taste the muffins and they will be fine and you will have wasted an hour of your time baking muffins, blogging about your mistakes and then realizing your mistakes weren't so bad after all and all of this was for nothing.
Consider it a lesson learned! I promise to never try to make something healthy again.
Wait . . . that didn't come out right.
I guess I should also make a rule that nothing good can come from blogging after 10:00 p.m.!
Random Summer Moments
Maggie got her ears pierced! She was so very brave. She sat on my lap and I hugged her tight as the ladies pierced both ears at once. Her beautiful pink flower earrings are a source of great pride now!
She couldn't resist showing off her red tongue from the TWO lollipops she was given for being such a brave girl.
Photos of the kids playing at my Papa's pool earlier in the month.
Poor Maggie was trying hard to keep up with the boys. They had ganged up against her but she held her own. 
Ooops- they finally got rid of her. Look how she's getting ready to cry and tattle on them.
This smile is one of, "Ha ha - my momma says you have to let me play too!" 
My dad got the kids this blow up slip n slide and they really enjoyed it. Chris & Walker were a little too brave with their "sliding" but they had a super-terrific time. All of the kids tried it out and had so much fun. Walker could be heard saying many times, "This is the best present Pop ever got me!"
Erik lets will take a turn. He didn't stay as steady.Going . . .
Going . . .
Gone!
Still sliding . . .
SPLASH!
Chris gets a turn too! Chris started the daredevil antics of jumping up HIGH before sliding down. He taught Walker to get a little too high, but they had a blast and it was a lot of fun to watch them.
Livvy Lou! This is my niece, Olivia. She is so funny. She is about two and a half years old and cracks me up. My favorite thing to have her do is to get her to say "grandfather". A few weeks ago, we were playing and she was pretending to talk on the phone. I said, "Liv, who are you talking to? " She says, "My Dam-fodder." I started to laugh thinking that maybe my sister and brother in law were having some tiffs lately and Liv over heard Katie referring to my brother in law as "your damn father." But, I got reprimanded by my sister for having my mind in the gutter when she looked at me and stressed, "Olivia is talking to her GRANDFATHER!" I still like to play house and I tell Olivia to answer the phone:
Going . . .Gone! Still sliding . . .SPLASH!Chris gets a turn too! Chris started the daredevil antics of jumping up HIGH before sliding down. He taught Walker to get a little too high, but they had a blast and it was a lot of fun to watch them.Livvy Lou! This is my niece, Olivia. She is so funny. She is about two and a half years old and cracks me up. My favorite thing to have her do is to get her to say "grandfather". A few weeks ago, we were playing and she was pretending to talk on the phone. I said, "Liv, who are you talking to? " She says, "My Dam-fodder." I started to laugh thinking that maybe my sister and brother in law were having some tiffs lately and Liv over heard Katie referring to my brother in law as "your damn father." But, I got reprimanded by my sister for having my mind in the gutter when she looked at me and stressed, "Olivia is talking to her GRANDFATHER!" I still like to play house and I tell Olivia to answer the phone: Me: "Liv! Pretend the phone is ringing and it's your grandfather."
Olivia: "O-tay"
Me: "ring ring"
Olivia: "Heddo"
Me: "Liv? Who is on the phone?"
Olivia: "My dam-fodder."
Me: snicker, snicker, snort, snort as I laugh childishly.
As the days FINALLY have gotten hot, summer is winding down and I looked back over the photos and realized we did a lot - even though it didn't seem like it.